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Summary: A Great Book!
Review: EATERS OF THE DEAD is the retelling of the old English story Beowulf like you've never imagined it before. (It's also the basis for the film the Thirteenth Warrior, but bears little resemblance to that version.) Too bad the title is so disturbing because this book has much to offer. Literature fans will catch more of the allusions, but even those who hated English class will love the story of the Vikings quest to defend themselves from a seemingly immortal beast and the rich description of an ancient foreign culture that Crichton makes relatable, fascinating and memorable.
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Summary: The flim was O.K, book is 100% better
Review: This book is very imaginative. It is sold under the misleading montra "What if Beowolf was Real"? This is not compleatly acurate I have read parts of Beowolf and those expecting to find a mondern rendition will be very disapointed. The book is told from the point of view of an Arab trader and ambasidor(I would spell his name in the review but I can't) it comes eqiupped with all of the qualities of an old manuscript: missing pages Smugged writting ECT. If you enjoy a good read with lots and lots of action you will enjoy this book, don't be trned off by the movie.
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Summary: A blast from the 10th Century
Review: This book was very well done. I'm now interested in learning more about the Vikings and what was happening in the world a thousand years ago.
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Summary: Rollicking Good Fun
Review: Twelve Viking warriors and an Arab courtier aid a Viking settlement against a near-supernatural enemy. It isn't literature, but as light entertainments go this is a superior read thanks to relentless pacing, good action scenes, and a satisfying denouement. The novel has two narrators: an academic hack and the Arab. The hack was mildly amusing but started to get on my nerves by the end. On the other hand, using the Arab's cosmopolitan voice to narrate the tale itself is an inspired device for explaining the strange ways of the Vikings to a modern audience. Bottom line: Better than one has the right to expect from a mass-market paperback.
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Summary: This seems to be BEOWULF revisited
Review: OK, this is a fun read, but Crichton is less than forthcoming about this version of the Beowulf saga. If the author really means to provide readers with a trail into literature so they can, at their discretion, make up their own minds about the veracity of Ibn Fadlan's tale, then he should be as diligent to note its amazing similarities to the Beowulf cycle of stories as he is to cite the provenance of old manuscripts or Arabic text translations. Lots of good reading mixes myth and history to make a fictional tale, but the citations that are supposed to help readers understand the tale are very selective by omission of details from the BEOWULF epic. This selective use of citations of ancient manuscripts is why I gave it two stars. I like a rangy yarn as well as the next person, but I do not care to have an author use pseudo-scholarly methods as "authentication." Also, my copy is dated 1976 and there is some really great material about Neanderthalers (including two analyzed samples of their mitochondrial DNA) that has been published since. You might also want to check out paleoclimate data (this story occurs just before the Little Ice Age) and have a good atlas at hand. Crichton does provide helpful geographic information. If you are not of an historical inclination, this is an enjoyable adventure yarn.
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Summary: The Ultimate Culture Shock
Review: "Eaters of the Dead" is about a 10th Century Arab Muslim named Ibn Fadlan, who goes on a mission to deliver a message up in the northlands by the King of Saqaliba from the "City of Peace." Fadlan gets sidetracked and finds himself among a bunch of Vikings. He observes the Viking way of life and finds much of it offensive, because it goes against his beliefs. Fadlan and the Vikings go around the northland on adventures. They come to a city and protect the village from the "Mist Creatures" who tear off people's heads and take them away. This is an excellent book which shows what culture shock would be for a 10th Century Muslim in the "Barbaric" northland. I highly recommend this and I give it five stars.
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Summary: The 13th Warrior
Review: Michael Crichton's "The 13th Warrior" is a compelling tale of Ibn Fadlan and his unorthodox adventure with a horde of Vikings who have been beckoned to a kingdom to defeat a monster that attacks under a veil of fog. Throughout the book I had no idea whether I was reading fiction, non-fiction, or mythology. Crichton is very believable and entertaining retelling this ancient story. The build-up and suspense of "The 13th Warrior" is worth reading and for pure Science fanatics, there are some fantastical postulations towards the end of the book.
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Summary: Good, but I had higher hopes...
Review: I had high hopes coming in to this book. I enjoyed the movie, and had heard that the book was much better. Sadly, it was all too straight forward, quick (both in story progression, and just in how little time it took to read), and felt like Crichton rushed it. The pretense (a more exciting retelling of Beowulf) is little more than that. It seemed like there were a few elements put in to remind you that this was supposed to be related to Beowulf, but not a whole lot of thought beyond that. The storytelling was also extremely straight forward (good for a younger reader, though I don't feel that the subject matter lends itself to that audience), though this may be a shortcoming inherent in choosing to write a book as though it were a journal from a thousand years ago.
Sadly, I think that this may be one of the very rare examples of the screenplay being better written than the source material. At least they didn't feign any Beowulf basis, and just presented a story as it. I'd recommend watching the movie, and imagining how good the book it was based on SHOULD be...
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Summary: book review
Review: EATERS OF THE DEAD is an excellent book about vikings and were they went to get weapons and resources.
I think anyone looking for a great book about vikings should read this book by Michael Crichton.
I liked this book because it was an action packed book full of excitement
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Summary: ...
Review: I liked th book th 13 Warrior alot. Their was lot's of action. Their were some gruesome parts but that added to the feel of it. This book is about battle and is good for those who like action. My facorite part is when the so called "beast" come to battle for th 2nd time. Their aare lot's of fights and I wanted to read faster to find out how it ends. I was tempted to read the ending but didn't.
I could actually picture the charecters in this story. They are wonderfully detailed and show how they feel about war.I can picture how the main charecter from a Middle Eastern country comes to the North and totally makes a fool of himself cause he doesn't know anything about fighting or their costumes.
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